Napoleon, his hunted great-grandson, the treasure, all these had ceased to exist.
"John, when you lay in the corridor the other night, and I thought you were dying, I kissed you." Her arm tightened as did his. "Will you promise never to tell if I confess a secret?"
"I promise."
"You never would have had the courage to propose if I hadn't deliberately brought you here for that purpose. It was I who proposed to you."
"I'm afraid I don't quite get that," doubtfully.
"Then we'll let the subject rest where it is. You might bring it up in after years." Her laughter was happy.
He raised his eyes reverently toward heaven. She would never know that she had stood in danger.
"But your father!" with a note of sudden alarm. And all the worldly sides to the dream burst upon him.
"Father is only the 'company,' John."
And so the admiral himself admitted when, an hour later, Fitzgerald put the affair before him, briefly and frankly.